Even with the miniscule sequester cuts, which Republicans should be backing wholeheartedly instead of fleeing, the budget of the federal government is going up, not down. Since so much of the cuts are coming from the military, it might be able to make the argument that it’s going to feel the pinch over the long haul, but no one else is feeling any real pain at all.

Still, in a country where one political party believes that borrowing billions from China to give to PBS is such a necessity that we can’t possibly do without it, even cuts in the growth of spending are too horrible to contemplate. So, as a political stunt, Obama is releasing hundreds, if not thousands of illegals.

In a highly unusual move, federal immigration officials have released hundreds of detainees from immigration detention centers around the country, an effort to save money as automatic budget cuts loom in Washington, officials said Tuesday.

The government has not dropped the deportation cases against the immigrants, however. The detainees have been freed on supervised release while their cases continue in court, officials said.

But the move angered some Republicans, including Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who said the releases were a political gambit by the Obama administration that undermined the continuing negotiations over comprehensive immigration reform and jeopardized public safety.

“It’s abhorrent that President Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda on sequestration,” said Mr. Goodlatte, who is running the House hearings on immigration reform. “By releasing criminal immigrants onto the streets, the administration is needlessly endangering American lives.”

First of all, if the Republican Party was smart, it would be hammering Obama RELENTLESSLY on this issue because Obama has way overplayed his hand and the American people would overwhelmingly side with the GOP on this. This is a gift on a silver platter, but only if the GOP has the brains to take it and run with it.

That being said, what does this tell you about how effective the McCain/Rubio amnesty plan would be? Give the illegals that are here amnesty, let them stay here forever, and then we’ll get to the security later. Meanwhile, we’re releasing the illegal aliens that we’ve already captured. In other words, if the will to enforce the law is zero — and it is — what good are promises about how tough the law is going to be?